1 US EPA Says it is Auditing Biofuel Producers' Pre-owned Cooking Oil Supply

Lilla Rawson edited this page 2025-01-11 12:56:10 +00:00

By Leah Douglas

Aug 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has actually launched investigations into the supply chains of a minimum of two renewable fuel manufacturers amidst market concerns that some might be using deceptive feedstocks for biodiesel to secure rewarding government aids.

EPA representative Jeffrey Landis informed Reuters that the firm has launched audits over the past year, however declined to determine the business targeted due to the fact that the examinations are continuous.

The production of biodiesel from sustainable components, like utilized cooking oil, can make refiners a slew of state and federal ecological and climate aids, including tradable credits under a program administered by the EPA called the Renewable Fuel Standard. But worries have actually been mounting that some materials labeled as utilized cooking oil are really more affordable and less sustainable virgin palm oil, an item that is related to deforestation and other environmental damage.

The concern entered into focus following a rise in utilized cooking oil exports from Asia in current years that analysts have actually said includes unrealistically high volumes relative to the quantity of cooking oil used and recovered in the area. The European Union is likewise examining feedstocks over the fraud issues.

The EPA audits started after the agency updated domestic supply-chain accounting requirements in July 2023 for renewable fuel manufacturers looking for to earn credits under the RFS, he said.

"EPA has actually carried out audits of renewable fuel manufacturers because July 2023 that includes, to name a few things, an examination of the places that utilized cooking oil used in renewable fuel production was gathered," he stated. "These examinations, however, are continuous and we are not able to discuss ongoing enforcement examinations."

U.S. senators from farm states have actually required more oversight of biofuel feedstocks, stating federal companies must be as rigorous in verifying imports as they are auditing domestic supply chains.

"The Biden administration has actually produced vigorous standards to verify, not simply trust, American manufacturers, and it is essential that the very same scrutiny is applied to imported feedstocks," 6 U.S. senators, led by Roger Marshall and Sherrod Brown, wrote in a June 20 letter to federal companies.

Another letter from 15 senators to the Treasury Department on July 30 prompted the to exclude imported feedstocks like UCO from an extra clean fuel tax credit program passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Matthew Lewis)